GISTEL, Belgium — (BUSINESS WIRE) — January 5, 2012 —
Sofics, the world leader in on-chip design solutions for electrostatic
discharge and electrical overstress (ESD/EOS) protection, announced
today that its PowerQubic® EOS technology has been chosen by
eSilicon Corporation, the largest independent semiconductor value chain
producer, for a high-voltage solar power application.

PowerQubic technology will protect the 15V interfaces on a new IC that
eSilicon is creating for a customer who will use it in solar-panel power
converters. The converters transform DC voltage from the solar panels
into standard AC voltage for residential and commercial use.

“We needed to protect a 15V interface on a 0.18um high-voltage LDMOS
chip that we will produce for our customer,” said Hugh Durdan, eSilicon
COO. “The IC contains both the 15V interface and digital logic circuits.
Sofics’ PowerQubic technology offered a great solution and Sofics
delivered it in just two weeks.”

PowerQubic technology is designed to enhance reliability in high-voltage
systems such as automotive and motor controls, power management and
conversion circuits. Sofics offers
TSMC-approved
PowerQubic solutions in 0.25um BCD and is currently developing others.
All versions can be ported to other processes.

“Our solution was already proven in another technology node, and given
the portability of PowerQubic, eSilicon incurred no development charges
or delays, which greatly reduced their overall IC cost,” said Koen
Verhaege, Sofics CEO. “And PowerQubic requires no changes to standard
processes. We were able to tailor the product to their exact needs,
without incurring development expenses or adding manufacturing costs.”

PowerQubic technology prevents latch-up and mitigates electrostatic
discharge (ESD) and other forms of EOS, enabling superior reliability in
high-voltage systems. More information is available on the Sofics
website.